The head of Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet, has said his country may come to regret the overthrow of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Yuval Diskin said a strong dictatorship would be preferable to the present "chaos" in Iraq, in a speech to teenage Jewish settlers in the West Bank. He also said the Israeli security services and judiciary treated Arabs and Jewish suspects differently. A Shin Bet veteran, Mr Diskin took over as Shin Bet's chief in May. His speech to the students at the Eli settlement as they prepared for military service was secretly recorded and broadcast on Israeli TV. When asked about the growing destabilisation of Iraq, Mr Diskin said Israel might come to rue its decision to support the US-led invasion in 2003. "When you dismantle a system in which there is a despot who controls his people by force, you have chaos," he said. "I'm not sure we won't miss Saddam." ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

When Tony Blair left the Commons chamber after question time, he probably thought David Cameron's accusation that he was "flip-flopping" over school reform was the worst verbal jab he would face this week.Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, had other ideas. In a characteristically forthright tirade, he described the prime minister as "a pawn of imperialism" and told him to "go right to hell".Mr Chávez was inveighing against comments on Venezuela's attitude to democracy made by Mr Blair in the chamber. The prime minister's observation that Venezuela should abide by the rules of the international community if it wanted to be respected by it showed that he believed "we're still in times of imperialism and colonialism", Mr Chávez said. "Go right to hell, Mr Blair," he told the prime minister during a speech in western Venezuela, using local slang to deliver the line. His exact words, "váyase largo al cipote", have no direct translation into English....http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,1706206,00.html

The Army has decided to return the money it got from a wounded Iraq war veteran who was forced to pay for his damaged body armor. CBS News Correspondent David Martin observes that charging First Lt. William Rebrook hundreds of dollars for the armor destroyed when he was wounded in combat sounds like the ultimate case of adding insult to injury. When Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker was asked how that could happen, he admitted he couldn't believe it, telling a congressional panel, "I have no idea why we would ever do something like that." But Rebrook, out of the Army for a week, told CBS News exactly how it happened. "The vest was covered in blood," he said, "and then taken off my body and destroyed as a bio-hazard after I was hit." ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/09/earlyshow/main1300145.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=U.S._1300145

Hunger striking Guantanamo Bay detainees are being strapped to chairs for hours to force-feed them through tubes, the New York Times has reported. The tough treatment started after it was determined that the prisoners were trying to die, unnamed sources said. Since December there has been a drop in the number of protesters from 84 to 4, spokesman Lt Col Jeremy M Martin said. Human rights groups have challenged the US in the past over whether hunger strikers have been force-fed. The US military defines a hunger strike as missing nine consecutive meals. Detainees being force-fed are also restrained to stop them vomiting after feeding and placed in solitary confinement for extended periods to stop them drawing encouragement from each other, the report says. Lt Col Martin, who is the chief military spokesman at the US detention facility, confirmed in a statement to the newspaper that "a restraint system to aid detainee feeding" was used. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4697184.stm

Tens of thousands of Iraqis marched and beat themselves Thursday in blood-soaked processions through this holy city and other Shiite centers around the country to mourn the seventh century death of their revered martyr, Imam Hussein. Amid tight security and in a fierce sand storm, hundreds of thousands of people descended on Karbala, where Hussein is believed buried, for ceremonies marking Ashoura, the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic lunar calendar.More than 8,000 security officers and extra Shiite militiamen frisked pilgrims and blocked vehicles from the city in the hope of preventing Sunni Arab suicide bombers from striking the event, as they have done during the previous two years, killing more than 230 people.The United States military has been using unmanned, unarmed aerial drones to provide an overhead view of processions....http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-02-09-karbala-iraq_x.htm?csp=34

At least five people have been killed in violence in the western Afghan city of Herat, doctors say. Fighting broke out between Shia and Sunni Muslims and eyewitnesses say police then intervened, opening fire to quell the clashes. Doctor BR Alamay told the BBC at least five bodies were taken to his hospital. Much of Afghanistan has been on high alert after protests over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad left at least 12 people dead. Thursday's trouble in Herat came as Shias were marking the commemoration of Ashura. Witnesses say hundreds of Shias and Sunnis started fighting after insults were exchanged. A local businessman told the BBC the situation in the city was "chaotic" and that those involved in the fighting were "using guns and grenades as well as sticks". ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4696254.stm